42 Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 



the conveyance of sperm from mussels in upper portions of the 

 bed to other mussels below. In places where there is no current, 

 fertilization must be more largely a matter of chance. 



Although the majority of species of mussels prefer a river 

 where there is a good current, some are more fitted to the quieter 

 parts of streams, or to ponds. These are chiefly thin-shelled spec- 

 ies with weakly developed or undeveloped hinge-teeth, best repre- 

 sented by the genus Anodonta. In some places Anodontas are 

 known as pond-mussels, as distinguished from the heavier sorts or 

 river-mussels. 



The distinction between lakes and rivers is not constant in de- 

 gree; we have all sorts of gradations from the extreme form of 

 lake — isolated bodies without outlet — through lakes with relatively 

 large, important outlets, to such lakes as are simply expansions of 

 a river-bed, examples of the latter type being Lake Pepin, Minn., 

 of the upper Mississippi, and the former English Lake in Indiana, 

 an expansion of the Kankakee. As a usual thing, the more fluvia- 

 tile a lake is, or the larger and more river-like its outlet, the more 

 river-like will be its mussel fauna, both in abundance and species. 

 In such lakes the mussels retain a vital continuity with the mussel 

 beds of the river. In the less fluviatile lakes the mussels are more 

 isolated, and there is more inbreeding. The large number (24) 

 of lake-dwelling species recorded for Indiana is due to the fact that 

 some of the lakes of Indiana are more or less fluviatile, and contain 

 several species of river shells. 



Origin and Character of the Maxinkuckee Mussels 



Lake Maxinkuckee, having a long, narrow, winding and rela- 

 tively unimportant outlet, is a representative of one of the less 

 fluviatile types of lakes, forming a pretty well marked contrast to 

 the various lakes cited above, and bearing a pretty close resem- 

 blance to the neighboring lakes, such as Twin Lakes, Pretty Lake, 

 Bass Lake, etc. 



The Maxinkuckee mussels are doubtless derived from an- 

 cestors brought up the Outlet from the Tippecanoe River by as- 

 cending fishes. It is doubtful whether any have been introduced 

 by the numerous plants of fish in the lake, though such a thing is 

 possible. During the various times the lake was visited, a few 

 Tippecanoe River mussels were planted in the thoroughfare be- 

 tween the lakes, and a few Yellow River and Kankakee mussels 

 were planted in the main lake. 



The Outlet of Lake Maxinkuckee is now a narrow, shallow 

 winding stream, straightened in places by ditching, and bordered 



